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![]() Color Management Basics, Part 4
By Ray Weiss, Digital Imaging Specialist, SGIA
This final article in the series will wrap up some loose ends by offering suggestions on workflows (RGB vs. CMYK), monitor profiling and soft proofing, and setting up your Adobe software.
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Calibrate for Accuracy A casual search on the Web brings up a number of ways to calibrate your monitor, with many of them relying on you to evaluate colors with your eyes and make adjustments based on what you see - but a spectrophotometer is better for reading the color data, allowing you to make calculated adjustments rather than relying on your eyes. As noted in an earlier article in this series, our eyes are definitely not the best instruments to use when evaluating color objectively. One way to calibrate a monitor is to use i1 Profiler from X-Rite*. Part 3 discussed having the appropriate tools available to you for linearization and profiling, and some of those tools will also make monitor calibrating easy and painless. You can even set it to remind you to recalibrate on a regular schedule so that you will compensate for any drifting of the monitor colors. Make sure that you are calibrating the monitor in the same conditions as you normally will use it. Give the monitor time to warm up - 30 minutes is usually sufficient. Take note of a couple of the settings in i1 Profiler as you decide what is best for your workflow. The first is the white point - the default in the program is CIE Illuminant D65. If you will be using D50 for your lighting standard, it is a good idea to make that adjustment now. And the luminance setting default of 120 cd/mư is used to specify the brightness of the monitor. Most monitors arrive from the factory with a luminance of 200 to 300 cd/mư, so they will have to be adjusted. Another important setting is "gamma." A setting of 1.8 is a good for working in print (as opposed to 2.2 which is better when working to create images that will be viewed on screen). When you go through the calibration process itself, you will use the spectrophotometer device (hanging on the top of the monitor so that it is "reading" the color and brightness from the monitor), and one of the first things the software will instruct you to do is use the device to adjust the brightness. After that, follow the wizard's promptings and you will end up with a calibrated monitor. The new monitor profile will automatically be saved in the appropriate folder - I usually name it with the date that I ran the calibration.
Comparing the Workflows The RGB color space is perfect to do everything you need, with its larger color gamut and dynamic range (compared to CMYK). In an RGB-preferred workflow, the master RGB image is quality adjusted and archived in RGB form. From there, duplicates may end up as a website graphic, a CMYK point-of-purchase (POP) display or a large billboard. Regardless of the output device used, you will be able to fine-tune the color reproduction for each output device. This is very different from the traditional offset-printing workflows, which typically require a tailored CMYK file for each CMYK printing device.
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To make sure that your software is set up correctly, go to the Edit/Color Settings area and check your settings. North America General Purpose 2 (default for Adobe) will use sRGB and US Web Coated (SWOP) as the default color working space - Adobe Bridge will let you know if your programs are synchronized with their color settings. It's important to know and understand your application before deciding to make any changes. For in-house design work that will be printed, it's recommended that you make the changes stated previously. The important takeaway is to understand what is going on and where to go if you want to effect a change, and to have your software set up to preserve embedded profiles and to notify you when there is a mismatch. This will let you be aware of a possible color conversion when working with a customer's file.
Soft Proofing - Photoshop
Color Management Proof Setup Simulate Black Ink: This compresses the dynamic range of the monitors image so that it more closely matches that of the print. It works by lightening the image's black until the dynamic range more closely matches that of the print. No hard rule here; sometimes it will produce a better match to print depending on subject matter. Simulate Paper Color: This tries to simulate the color temperature of the paper's white point on the monitor. Hit CTRL + Y or Apple + Y to toggle the effect on or off. It's really that easy. With a calibrated monitor you should be able to get close to what the printed output will be, which will help you when you are creating files to be printed.
The Final Recap You will hear many different approaches and theories about color management. Some will argue about rendering intents and density versus spectral data. In the end, though, what you need to understand is what differentiates those viewpoints and come up with a plan that works for your applications and for your equipment. Use a practical approach and figure out what has been the most successful at getting the results you need. Getting lucky and hitting a bright red doesn't matter at all if you can't hit it again in six months. There is so much more information out there, but this series can help you understand some of the basic concepts and encourage you to explore color on your output devices. Good luck and go experiment with your color! *SGIA Member since 2011 Ray Weiss, Digital Imaging Specialist for SGIA, joined the Association in 2014. He provides solutions and technical information on digital printing as well as digital equipment, materials, and vendor referrals. He oversees several workshops at SGIA along with the association's digital equipment evaluation program. His 25+ year career in the graphics industry began with a typesetting and prepress business in Washington, DC, which grew into an offset print operation in Maryland. He then moved into wide format sales, training, support and service. This article appeared in the SGIA Journal, September / October 2016 Issue and is reprinted with permission. Copyright 2017 Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (www.sgia.org). All Rights Reserved.
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